Lance Berkman’s three-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the NLCS last night had given them a two-run lead and put them two innings from the first World Series berth in club history.

“I probably was the only guy not jumping around in the dugout,” Houston catcher Brad Ausmus said, referring to his feelings after Berkman’s homer.

Asked why that was, Ausmus explained.

“It’s not over till the last out’s caught,” he said.

And last night it wasn’t over until Albert Pujols got one final swing.

Pujols is the reason the Cardinals are still alive and the reason the NLCS is still going. The magnificent MVP candidate delivered one of the most clutch and dramatic – and for the Astros, the most heart-breaking – homers in postseason history last night, a blast that lifted the Cardinals to a remarkable 5-4 Game 5 win.

Prior to Pujols’ blast, the Astros were poised to go to the World Series for the first time in the franchise’s 44-year history. Thanks to Berkman’s three-run homer in the seventh, the Astros carried a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. Sensational closer Brad Lidge struck out the first two Cardinals, and the Astros were only one out away from history.

But David Eckstein kept the Cards going with a single to left, and Lidge walked Jim Edmonds, bringing up Pujols. The slugger had squandered several chances to produce runs early in the game, going 0-for-4 to that point and leaving five men on.

But on an 0-1 pitch from Lidge, Pujols crushed a gargantuan three-run homer to left.

Said Pujols: “Earlier in the game I had some chances to drive some runs in and I didn’t come through it. Couldn’t be better than this.”

And it couldn’t have been worse for the Astros. Or for Lidge.

“He’s a great hitter and obviously I threw a pitch that I wish I could have back,” Lidge said. “It was a slider and he hit it a mile. It’s tough, but I know everybody in this clubhouse is looking forward to going to St. Louis and winning it there. This is a bump in the road, but no way is this going to get anybody down.”

The Astros still lead the NLCS, three games to two. But Pujols’ homer was beyond devastating.

The Astros have now played five games in their history that could have sent them to the World Series – two in the 1980 NLCS, two in last year’s NLCS and last night – and lost them all. It’s now up to Roy Oswalt or Roger Clemens, on the road, to make sure it doesn’t become 0-for-7.

“We still have Roy and Rocket to pitch in St. Louis so we feel confident,” said Astros starter Andy Pettitte, who threw 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball last night. “But it’s good that we have a day off because we’ll need some time to clear our heads. That was a devastating thing, to be a pitch away from the World Series and lose a game like that. We were stunned.”